Hindu temple volunteer hacked to death in Bangladesh

A Hindu temple worker was hacked to death in western Bangladesh Friday, police said, the latest in a series of attacks on religious minorities by suspected Islamists.

Police in western Bangladesh in mid-June 2016 armed villagers with bamboo sticks and whistles in an effort to deter Islamist militants from attacking people of minority faiths

Shyamananda Das, who helped to conduct prayers at the Radhamadan Gopal Bigraha Math in Jhenaidah district, was killed by three men on a motorcycle as he was walking on a highway adjacent to his temple early in the morning, police said.

“They hacked him on his neck three times and there was one stabbing mark in his head,” deputy police chief of the district Gopinath Kanjilal said.”He died after he was brought to a hospital.”

Kanjilal said Das, also known as Babaji, was “a priest” in the temple. But local police station chief inspector Hasan Hafizur Rahman said the 50-year-old man was “a temple volunteer who helps conduct prayers.” Read More